6 Nations
by ShadowDreamPhoenix
Summary: In a world that relies on balance, one warrior will discover a power that hasn't been seen or wielded for some time.
1. The Chase

A noise in the distance caught his attention. Turning and seeing what it was, Casey got a smirk on his face. He knew that he had really gotten the Wind Nation's attention if they were sending members of the Storm Riders after him. Turning the opposite direction, he took off running. While the people of the Wind nation were fast, the people of Shadow Lands were faster. This didn't mean he couldn't have some fun first. Glancing back, he saw that they were on their air bikes.

_Do they actually think they can catch me?_ Casey thought with a laugh.

The Storm Riders were closing in faster than he was expecting. It wasn't too long before they caught up with him. Casey only smiled at the idea actually being caught, and not letting himself be caught for a change. One of the Storm Riders started to move ahead of him. Guessing her intentions, Casey waited to until she jumped off her bike and easily avoided being hit.

After landing, and missing, Amber recovered from the drop and was chasing after Casey. "You won't get away from us!" she screamed at him.

"We'll see," Casey replied.

Amber began launching wind attacks at Casey. He easily avoided each of them though. However, what Casey wasn't aware of was that Amber had order the rest of her unit to get ahead of him before she jumped. It wasn't long before they had him surrounded.

Sliding to a stop, Casey had a big smile on his face. Looking around at each of them, he started laughing and clapping.

"I must say I'm impressed. No one has ever caught before unless I let them. I have to give you guys' credit for actually catching me. No wonder you guys are the best unit of the Storm Riders."

"That's right. Now hand over everything you've taken," Amber said with her hand outstretched.

"I'd prefer to keep what I have. However I do have a gift for you," Casey said as he started rummaging through his bag. While the other members of Amber's unit were giving each other questioning looks, Amber narrowed her eyes at him.

"Here we go," Casey said as he pulled out an object about the size of a marble. He inspected it a few moments before looking at Amber and getting a mischievous smile on his face. Then he pressed it before tossing it to her saying "catch".

Amber caught the thing without really paying attention to it, her focus still on Casey.

"And just what is…." Amber started. Suddenly her body tensed and she fell to her knees. As she started breathing heavy, the other members of her unit started to worry if the thing Casey had thrown was hurting her.

"What…..What have you done to me?" Amber gasped after a few minutes.

"Me? Nothing," Casey replied, still smiling. "That little marvel in your hand, however, is something of my own design. It triggers all points of pleasure throughout the body at once."

"You bastard," Amber said through gritted teeth. "Get him!" she finally was able to say to the others.

Without hesitation, the other 4 members of her unit attacked Casey at once. However, Casey proved to be more of a match than they expected. Easily defending and evading their attacks, Casey eventually knocked each one to the ground. After throwing the last one to the ground, Casey ran over and hopped on one of their air bikes.

"Nice bike," Casey commented before taking off. Not willing to let him get away, David hopped on his bike and was after him about a second after Casey had taken off. Not paying attention to the fact that he was being chased, Casey was inspecting the various buttons and dials on the bike's display.

"Here we go," Casey said as he found what he was looking for. He flipped the switched that was labeled "radio."

"One thing I forgot to tell you about that thing you have in your hand," Amber and the remaining members of her unit heard Casey explaining. "The more you try to fight it, the more intense it grows until it overwhelms you and you give in. So it's better if you just give in and enjoy the next 5 minutes. Or is that one set to half an hour? I have so many of those things I can never remember which one are set to what."

Glancing over his shoulder and seeing that he was still being chased, Casey accelerated the bike he was riding. David accelerated to stay with him, but wasn't trying to catch him just yet.

"Catch him at all costs," Amber said to David.

"Roger," David replied.

Amber took a deep breath and closed her eyes to wait for the device to shut itself off. She didn't have to wait for too long before the device finally stopped. After she dropped it on the ground, she crushed it beneath her foot. Afterward, she and the rest of her unit jumped on the remaining bikes and sped off to catch up to David and Casey.

As the chase continued, they eventually reached the capital city of the wind nation. Casey soon started circling above the city, steadily going higher and higher. David pursued him the whole time. Seeing him turning often to stay above the city, David tried often to cut him off with no success. David launched an attack at him in frustration. To avoid the attack, Casey flipped the air bike he was riding upside-down.

"Nice shot, too bad you missed," Casey commented.

Casey suddenly noticed something fall from his bag, realizing that in escaping he forgot to reclose his bag. Casey, determined not to lose the item, let go of the air bike. Getting one of his feet under him, he pushed off from the seat of the air bike to propel himself after it.

David couldn't believe what he saw. He was able to catch the air bike Casey had ridden and keep it from flying off.

"He's jumped off the bike and is falling towards the city," David reported to Amber as he watched him fall.

As Casey fell, he kept his eyes focused on the item that was falling ahead of him. As he got closer he stretched out his hand. After he caught it, he pulled his bag around so that he could put it back in his bag. Once it was back in his bag and secure and his bag was closed, he turned his attention back to the fact that he was falling. He saw a cable that was holding one of the outer structures swaying beneath him. As he focused on it, it slowed stopped moving. As he neared it he flipped so he would land feet first on it. Because of his momentum, when he landed on the cable he started to grind down it rapidly, leaving a trail of sparks from his boots. He noticed that the cable he was on crossed many others that ran throughout the city. As he reached another cable that ran in the same general direction, he jumped to it. He continued this pattern of jumping to different cables until he landed within the city.

"Unbelievable," Amber said when she saw what happened.

"Just who is this guy?" Shawn asked.

"A thief from the Land of Shadows," Amber answered.

"What did he take anyway?" Kevin wondered.

"He has a disk that contains all information on our defenses on it, as well as an item of personal value to me," Amber said with a hint of anger. "Search the city for any sign of him. If you can, catch him and retrieve the items."

"Yes, sir," the rest said as they dispersed to look for him.


	2. Escape

6 Nations

Ch 2

Casey stepped out of the shadows when he saw it was clear.

"Its just too easy sometimes," he laughed to himself.

Casey saw what he was looking for after a quick glance around the room he was in. In the center of the room was a pedestal with a crystal on it glowing bright blue. As he walked up to it, he dug around in his bag until he found what he wanted. He pulled out an object wrapped in a cloth that was the same color as the glow produced by the crystal. He removed the cloth to reveal a glass ball. When he held it up next to the crystal and let go of it, it hovered there. After a few seconds, it started spinning. As it gathered speed, the ball started to give of the same glow as the crystal. The glow started off dull, but brightened as the ball spun. When it finally stopped, the glow it was emitting was the same as the crystal itself. Quickly grabbing it and wrapping it back up in the cloth, Casey smiled knowing he got the result he wanted. After placing the glass ball back in his bag he turned and walked out. But as he exited the room, an alarm went off.

"I must've overlooked something. Oh well, no use worrying about it now," Casey said to himself. After looking both ways down the hall, Casey picked a direction and took off running. He knew that the alarm that was going off would bring every guard and the entire police force of the city to building.

It wasn't long before all guards in the building were running throughout the halls looking for the intruder. There were even a few units of the Storm Riders running around. One of them happened to be Amber's unit. When they reached an intersection, she turned and ordered her unit to split up and search for him.

"Attention all that are searching within the building, we have both the exits covered. So if you find the intruder but can't catch him, don't worry. If you don't catch him, we will out here," a voice said over everyone's radio receivers.

Reaching another intersection, Amber looked in each direction and spotted Casey deciding which direction to go. Casey, seeing Amber, turns and runs the opposite way. Amber gave chase, telling everyone over the radio where he was and which way he was going. As Amber was chasing him, Casey began taking various turns in the hopes of losing her. Since Amber is more familiar with layout of the building, that proved to be a difficult thing to do. As he headed towards another intersection, he saw two guards heading straight for him. Knowing they would reach the intersection before him, he formed a disk of shadows and threw it towards the light above them. When the disk reached the light it plunged the hall into darkness for a few seconds. When the light returned, Casey was gone. The guards and Amber looked down each hall but couldn't see him.

"You two go that way," Amber ordered the guards before heading off the other way. As she continued her search she told everyone to watch out for darkened hallways. She started to think that maybe he had escaped as she was approaching yet another intersection without a single sign of where he was when she saw him sprint by her. She immediately called to everyone when she saw that he was heading towards one of the exits.

As Casey ran out the door and onto the platform there, he had to stop. He saw that the exit had been surrounded by varying levels of the police force. He even saw more than a few units of the Storm Riders among them.

"Twice in one day, I think that's a record," Casey laughed to himself.

"You have nowhere to go now," Amber said as he ran out the door. "Now return the crystal, as well as everything else you took."

"I didn't take the wind crystal," Casey said. "If I had, would this city have started falling?"

"We do have a backup in place in case of emergencies," Amber explained. "But if you didn't take the crystal, then why were you in the chamber?"

"A little experiment I'm working on."

"Be sure to tell us all about it when we lock you up. Like I said, you have nowhere to go."

"I could argue about having nowhere to go, but I think I'll humor you," Casey said as he took a fighting stance. "Let's see what you got."

"Fine, but forgive me I enjoy this. What? Not going to set your bag aside?" Amber said as she removed her jacket and noticed he wasn't removing the bag he was wearing.

Placing a hand on the strap to the bag, Casey sent a shadow around it and pressed it against him so that it as if it wasn't even there.

"Don't trust us?" Amber asked

"Would you?" Casey replied

"Good point."

With that, Amber attacked. Casey easily avoided and blocked every attack that Amber threw at him. No matter how she attacked Casey seemed to be one step ahead of her. After catching her foot from a kick she tried, Casey went on the offensive. Amber immediately knew that it wasn't going to be an easy fight from the way he attacked. Casey left her very little time to react to the speed and number of his attacks. It wasn't long before Casey landed a hit. With a kick to stomach, Casey sent Amber flying back. She landed on her back, but recovered quickly and was back on her feet almost immediately.

Instead of charging back in she started a wind current that wrapped around the platform. With a quick striking motion of her hand, Amber launched the wind stream she had created. When it reached Casey, he stretched out his hand and caught the attack and began condensing it. When it was all condensed into a ball, Casey threw it back. Amber batted it aside, but had a confused look on her face. Casey mimicked her move of swirling the wind around the platform, but instead of just launching it, first he formed it into a javelin then launched it. Amber caught the javelin and, with a quick switching of her grip, threw it back at him. Like Amber did, Casey batted it aside. However, he followed it with two more quick wind attacks. It soon turned into a battle of who had better control of the wind attacks that were sent back and forth between the two.

Amber was confused about how he was matching her strength in wind when he shouldn't be able to. She almost didn't see when he jumped in to attack after launching another wind strike at her. She was able to defend against the attack but he started to force her back towards the door. With the way Casey was attacking, Amber could barely keep up in defending. Casey's every attack was followed by another. Amber knew she was facing one of the more skilled warriors of from the Land of Shadows. She began to wonder if he might even be a Shadow Knight.

Suddenly, Casey jumped back.

"This has been fun, but I really must be going," he said as he removed the shadow holding his bag.

With that, Casey took a couple of steps forward then turned to the edge of the platform. When he reached the edge, he pushed off and dove towards the forest below, despite the fact that the city was suspended miles above it. Amber couldn't believe what she saw. Even the people of the Wind Nation were hesitant to do what Casey just did. However, she wasn't about to let him get away so easily. Amber, following Casey's example, dove from the platform after him. Since she could control wind currents, Amber was gaining on Casey rapidly. When Casey looked back and saw her gaining on him, he laughed as he turned to face her. Pulling his arms back, he gathered shadows into his hands. When he threw his arms forward, he produced a disk between him and Amber. When Amber reached the disk, she punched right through it. When she was through the disk, she couldn't see Casey anyway. She started to slow her descent when she was hit on her arm that turned her around. She noticed a black band that was wrapped on her arm. When she looked up, she saw Casey falling above her. She realized that he used the disk to stop his descent and waited for her to pass. She also noticed that the disk didn't break like she thought when she went through. She saw that she simply left a hole in the center of it. Before Amber could react, Casey pulled what was left of the disk in front of him and launched multiple shadow bands at her.

When the bands hit Amber she was propelled into the forest and bound to a tree. No matter how much she struggled, Amber was unable to break free.

"I would've thought you would know better than that," Casey said as he appeared in front of her smiling. "Very rarely is everything we do exactly as it appears."

Amber didn't say anything to him and just continued to struggle against the shadow's holding her. Laughing, Casey started digging in his bag again. After a few seconds he pulled another marble, this time it was red.

"You wouldn't dare," Amber said when she saw it.

"If you mean this one, no. This one is meant to inflict pain not pleasure. I have no intention of using one like this on you," Casey explained as he dropped the first marble he removed and started rummaging in his bag again. "Ah, here we go."

Walking up Amber, he pressed the marble he was holding and slipped under the collar of her shirt and pressed on it until it activated.

"Since you enjoyed the last one so much," he said when he saw her tense. "I'd love to stay and chat but like I said, I really must be going. Besides, your unit will be here soon and being caught twice in one day is enough for me."

As Casey jumped back, he vanished. Amber knew he was jumping into the shadows as he moved. When Casey reappeared, he was already a few yards away and still moving. Disappearing again, Amber knew they would never catch him in such a heavily shaded area. She looked up and saw her unit descending towards her and she knew all she could do was wait for them to reach her.

After the members of her unit got to her and helped remove the bands holding her, she removed the marble from her shirt.

"Should we go after him?" Shawn asked.

"No. We wouldn't be able to catch him now anyway. With an area as shaded as this, he has the advantage," Amber replied.

Though she hated to admit it, she knew Casey had both defeated her and gotten away. She looked in the direction she had him head in, knowing that his path probably led back to the Land of Shadows.

"Let's head back, we should at least report this to the Wind Lord," she said after a while.

David handed her a cable that was connected to one of the air bikes that hovered above them. Taking it, Amber and the others let themselves be hauled up and returned to the city.


	3. Report and New Information

6 Nations

Ch 3

"So he escaped then?" asked the Wind Lord, Antwan.

"That's right, sir," Amber said.

For a while, the Wind Lord was silent as he thought over everything Amber and her unit had reported.

"Oh well," he said after a while. "Other than the fact that he has information about our nation's defenses, there's no harm done. The surveillance shows that he never even touched the crystal. Although I am curious as to why he was there in the first place."

"He said it was some experiment that he was working on," Amber said.

"Interesting. I wonder what this experiment of his could be if it involves the crystals," Antwan wondered aloud. "As for now you're all dismissed. And Amber, don't feel too bad about this. Remember, he was from the Land of Shadows. They have always been highly skilled fighters."

"I know. But he made all of us look like fools," Amber replied.

"That couldn't be helped. It would seem that he has done his homework on us," Antwan replied.

With that everyone left the Wind Lord's audience chamber as he leaned back in his chair. Laughing to himself, he decided to call the Shadow Lord and see what he could make of this.

"Ah, Wind Lord Antwan what can I do for you?" Keith, the Shadow Lord, asked.

"It would seem one of your nation's warriors is causing mischief," Antwan replied.

"I think I know who it is," Keith replied with a laugh. "If I'm right about who it is, I've know that he has a bit of a mischievous side to him for a while. And you aren't the first he has done this to. But don't worry; he won't do anything that would cause an imbalance."

"According to one of my Storm Riders, he has some experiment he's conducting that involves the crystals."

"Yeah he told me something about that. He didn't give me many details, although he thinks that what he has in mind could be something that proves helpful to us all."

"So through his mischief, he thinks he can have something that can help?"

"Apparently."

"So long as he isn't out to cause chaos, I guess I can let this go."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, I just wanted to let you know about this incident."

"Alright then, thank you for telling me. Are all of us still meeting this week?"

"I believe so, unless one of the others has a reason that we need to postpone our meeting."

"Ok, I will see you then," Keith said as he closed the call window.

As Antwan leaned back in his chair, he chuckled to himself as he wondered just what was in store for everyone.

When Amber got to her office she noticed something sitting on her desk. When she saw that it was a CD with a note stuck to it, she knew exactly what it was. After reading the note she balled it up and threw it away.

"What's that?" Henry asked from the door.

"The disk that the Shadow Warrior had that contains all our defensive information on it," Amber replied.

"Wait, you're saying he returned it?"

"It would seem so. Take this to our defense department," she told him as he handed him the disk.

"Right away," Henry said as he ran off.

Amber sat down behind her desk and rested her head on the back of her chair.

"How did he do that?" she asked herself out loud.

"Do what?" Shawn said from the door.

"Everything, from how he got the data to how he was able to use the wind. It doesn't make sense. He shouldn't have been able to match my strength in wind like he did," Amber said angrily.

"Hey relax, remember what the Wind Lord, he knew what he was doing. I doubt we really could've caught him anyway," Shawn said to try and calm her down. "Everything seemed like a joke to him, like he wasn't taking it seriously."

"That doesn't help," Amber responded.

"I know, but let's think for a moment. You said yourself that you thought he might be a Shadow Knight, and everyone knows how skilled they can be. If he was then that would explain why he was able to escape so easily and why he didn't take it seriously."

"How is this supposed to help?"

"How about keeping things in perspective, Amber. If nothing else, he showed us where we need work in our defenses."

"You're right, especially since he returned the data he took," she said after a moment. "What brings you by anyway?"

"Just wondering how you feel about today."

"You mean other than frustrated?"

"I figured you would be, but yes."

"I don't know. I guess I'm just upset that he made us look like fools."

"Well try not to let it get to you. Why not take the rest of the day off? Everyone else from our unit and the guards for the crystal did. I'm on my way out now. Besides, the Wind Lord doesn't mind."

"You're right," Amber said after a moment's thought. "Maybe taking the rest of the day off would give me time to relax. I know I need to after today."

"Isn't that the truth? Honestly I think we all do," Shawn replied.

"I guess I'll see you later then," Amber said as she gathered her things.

"See you later, and try to take it easy tonight."

"I will."

After gathering the rest of her stuff, Amber left and headed home for the day.

That night, Amber sat on the windowsill staring blankly out the window lost in thought. A sudden ringing caught her attention and she realized it was her phone. She answered the phone while activating a video screen and wasn't too surprised to see it was Henry.

"So what's your reason for calling so late?" she asked him before he could say anything.

"I thought you might like to know something about that disk that the shadow warrior had, and apparently return," Henry replied.

"And what might that be?"

"It turns out that he did take information about our defenses. However the disk had more information on it than that."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that it pointed out holes and flaws in our defenses and listed ways to cover them."

"Wait, you're saying he's basically trying to help us increase our defense systems?"

"That's what it seems like. There was also something else on the disk but the technicians are having trouble deciphering it."

"Any ideas what it could be?"

"None. It seems whatever it is he didn't want someone to find out easily."

"If it was information he didn't anyone else to know he wouldn't have returned the disk, or at least not without removing it."

"That's one of the things that has everyone confused. Although, a few think that maybe he did want to us to know but decided to make a challenge to find out."

"Well considering we know nothing about him, I guess that can be a valid argument."

Before the conversation could continue, there was the sound of glass breaking as something came through the window. Reacting, Amber dropped to the ground in an attempt to avoid being hit, but knew that it was probably too late. Henry, having watched everything, was surprised at what he saw. Amber looked up from the floor and saw an arrow floating a few feet away and realized that it would've connected anyway had it not been stopped. Slowly, Casey began to appear in front of both them, holding the arrow between his first two fingers.


	4. A Secret Revealed

6 Nations

Ch 4

"Where did you come from?" Henry asked when Casey had fully appeared.

"Why are you even here?" Amber asked as she got up.

"What? No 'thank you' for saving your life?" Casey replied with a sly smile even though he was staring out the window.

"You didn't answer our questions," Amber replied heatedly.

"True. To answer your friend's, the shadows. To answer yours, I came because I wanted to return your necklace. I just happened to notice that this arrow was targeting you," Casey answered holding up the arrow.

"Plenty of people here practice archery. It could just be a stray arrow, it happens," Amber explained.

"You would know better than I would, however who would be practicing archery this late and using an arrow like this?"

"You make seem like that arrow is something special," Henry said.

Casey held up the arrow and snapped it. As soon as the arrow broke, it dissolved into nothingness in his hand.

"That is just one of the things our arrows do."

"What do you mean 'one of the things'?" Amber asked as she got up off the floor.

"Let's just say that the abilities our arrows possess is one of the aspects that make shadow warriors the best assassins."

"Why are you staring out the window like that?" Henry asked.

"I'm trying to see if I can find the shooter."

"How does staring out the window let you accomplish that?"

"We can use a person or object's shadow to track it."

"What does that mean?" Amber asked.

Casey just looked and gave a mischievous smile that said he wasn't going to tell.

"Fine, don't tell me," Amber said in frustration. "Henry, I'll talk to you later. I'm going to bed. Since you found your way in, you can find your way out now."

Amber turned off the video screen and headed to her room. She glanced back and saw that Casey hadn't moved and was still staring out the window.

"And thanks for saving my life I guess," she said before going in her room and closing the door.

Casey just laughed to himself as he blended back into the shadows.

A dull thud woke Amber up. She rolled over and formed a blade out of wind, expecting some form of attack. She was surprised to see Casey sitting on her windowsill and staring out the window. As a small circle of light was forming on the wall across from him, Casey created a spike out of the shadows and threw at the light as it reached its brightest moment, hitting it dead center and producing the thud that Amber heard. As she watched him, she noticed that his attention was focused outside.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Casey suddenly asked without turning.

"Shouldn't you?" Amber countered.

"I don't need to sleep as often as you would," Casey said with a laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked as she got up and sat opposite him on the windowsill.

"Remember, I'm a shadow warrior. When night falls, our strength increases and we can use our true abilities," Casey said glancing at her. "We only really need to sleep once every few days."

"Interesting, but what did you mean by true abilities?"

"Let's say you and your team would've actually caught me today. Even if I was imprisoned with bright lights focused on me, I would've been able to escape once night fell."

"And just how would you have accomplished that?"

"Watch closely," Casey said pulling out a set of handcuffs.

"Why do you have handcuffs?" Amber asked as he placed them tightly on his wrist.

"These are yours actually," Casey said with a smile. "Now watch."

Amber watched in surprise as Casey passed his hand straight through and out of the locked handcuffs.

"This is why only the nation of Light can truly imprison us. Their nighttime is early sunset. Our night abilities only truly come out when sun sets completely," Casey explained as he handed Amber her handcuffs.

"Is there anything else I should know about you?"

"Nothing I'm going to tell you easily," Casey said as he went back to staring out the window.

Amber stared out the window as she absorbed what Casey had just told her.

"I never did get your name," she asked suddenly still looking out the window.

"It's Casey."

"I'm Amber."

"It's nice to meet you, Amber."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you save me tonight?"

"I simply find you interesting."

"How do you find me interesting?" Amber asked

"You and your team actually caught me today. That rarely happens without me letting it," Casey answered.

While they were silent, Casey formed another spike out of shadow and threw it. Amber tensed when it passed right by her head, ruffling her hair as it passed, and landed in center of the circle of light that appeared on the wall again.

"What were you trying to do, kill me?" she asked angrily.

"If I had wanted to kill you I would've done so long ago," Casey replied with a laugh.

Amber crossed her arms and looked out the window. Casey, still laughing, followed suit. Amber kept glancing at Casey, trying to figure out just what made him tick.

"You said you came by to return my necklace, didn't you?" Amber said suddenly remembering why he was there in the first place.

Casey didn't answer but reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace and handed it to her.

"It probably doesn't matter to you but it was my grandmother's. She gave it to me shortly before she died," Amber said quietly as she put it on.

Casey simply nodded and continued to stare out the window. Both of them stared out the window for a time.

"Why are you still here?"

"When we're on assassination missions, many of us refuse to let our targets live under any circumstances. If our first attempt fails, we simply hide out and formulate a new plan. I stayed in case whoever it was decided to try again."

"Is that all?"

"Some shadow warriors can be relentless at times, trust me on that," Casey said as he glanced at her.

"You would know better than me," Amber replied with a smirk.

Casey just laughed and shook his head. "I have a feeling you would've made a very good shadow warrior."

"What makes you say that?"

"You have a sharp mind, your fighting skills are rather good, and you have seemed to react quickly. Although I will say that you would need some more work on fighting."

"Thanks, but I bet I could kick your ass."

"If that's true, you would've earlier today."

Before their conversation could continue, Amber's phone starting ringing. When she decided to use the video screen, she glanced at Casey.

"If you're worried that whoever it is will see me, they won't," Casey said as he blended into the shadows.

Amber glanced once more at where Casey vanished before answering the phone and turning on the video screen.

"What is it now?" Amber asked roughly.

"Sorry about calling so late but there's another shadow warrior running around the city," Kevin said.

"Ok, but what does that really have to do with us?"

"The squad chasing him is calling for back up and since we were actually able to catch up to the one from earlier they're asking for us specifically."

"So because we were able to catch one shadow warrior, they think we can catch another?"

"That's pretty much it. You say that like it's a problem."

"Let's just say I think the warrior from earlier was toying with us."

Soon, sirens could be heard in the distance and it sounded like they were coming closer.

"He's apparently heading this way," Casey said as he reappeared.

"Where did you come from?" Kevin asked surprised.

"It's been a while since I had a good chase," Casey said with a smile.

Before either Amber or Kevin could say anything, Casey jumped out the window as the shadow warrior and police passed by. Catching the windowsill below him, Casey propelled himself forward and gave chase.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Amber said annoyed.

Amber turned off the video screen and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before grabbing her Storm Rider jacket. Imitating Casey, she jumped out the window, but landed on her air bike and took off after him and the shadow warrior he was chasing.

It wasn't long before Casey caught up with the other shadow warrior. The other warrior attacked not knowing what to expect from him. Casey easily avoided his attacks and eventually threw him against at nearby wall on a random rooftop and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Shortly after, the police and Amber reached where they were. While Casey was holding him, the shadow warrior tried to enter the shadows to run, but Casey kept his hold and pulled him back.

"That's not going to work against me," Casey said as he slammed him against the wall.

"So you're helping them aren't you?"

"Nope, I'm here out of boredom."

"Well, boredom or not, I refuse to let anyone catch me," the warrior said pushing Casey away from him and wrapping his arms and legs in shadows and hid them from everyone, except Casey.

"Against the people of other nations, that's a nice advantage, but against me it's pointless," Casey said taking a fighting stance.

The warrior rushed in to attack. Despite the warrior's speed, Casey was able to defend against his attacks easily enough. Casey eventually landed a kick to the warrior's chest that sent him back against the wall and broke his concentration causing him to lose the shadows he held around his limbs. As the warrior recovered, Casey imitated him by wrapping his limbs in shadows before attacking. The warrior was able to defend himself, but it seemed like he was just able to. Casey released the shadows around his limbs as the fight continued. Eventually the warrior caught his arm and started to twist it until he saw a tattoo of crossed blades that was on Casey's upper arm.

"You're a Knight?" the warrior asked shocked as he released him.

"Yep, I joined their ranks a few years ago," Casey replied. "So unless you're one as well you're seriously outmatched."

As Casey was talking, a number of circles formed out of shadows around him. Before the warrior could say anything, Casey started hitting each one. What Amber and the others noticed was that every time Casey hit one of the circles, the warrior would recoil as if hit. After a few more hits, each of the circles shattered. As the last of the circles shattered the warrior fell to the ground from the attack.

The warrior picked himself up and took a fighting stance and waited for Casey's next attack. However, Casey started to blend into the shadows instead.

"If you think that's going to work, your-"

Before the warrior could finish his sentence, his eyes widen in shock. Soon he was frantically looking around him. Amber and the police watching couldn't understand why he was panicking.

"Where are you? Why can't I see you?" the warrior asked

"It's a Shadow Knight ability. Like I said, unless you're one, you're outmatched," Casey replied.

As Amber and the others were watching the warrior frantically search for Casey, the warrior suddenly doubled over as if he was hit in the stomach. It became clear to everyone that it was Casey attacking as the warrior was knocked around, even though no one could see Casey. After a few moments the warrior was knocked face first into the ground. Casey reappeared standing on the warrior's back.

The warrior struggled to try and get up but Casey kept him pinned easily.

"Why don't you just give up already? You should know you can't win," Casey asked him.

The warrior suddenly stopped struggling. Casey noticed that something had his attention as he stared down at him.

"How did you survive?" the warrior suddenly asked staring at the assembled officers.

"How did who survive what?" one of them asked.

"That arrow should've killed you," the warrior responded ignoring the officer's question.

"So that was you that fired that arrow," Casey said.

"Wait, you're saying that this was the guy that tried to assassinate me?" Amber asked.

"So it seems," Casey replied as he reached into his pocket.

"What exactly do you mean, Amber?" one of the officers asked her.

"Basically, he saved my life a few hours ago. An arrow came through my window and would've killed me had he not caught it," she explained quickly.

The shadow warrior Casey fought started struggling again to try and get free, but was unsuccessful. After a few moments, Casey pulled out a red marble and pressed it to activate it.

"Isn't that one of the ones you said inflict pain?" Amber asked when she saw it.

"Are you saying you object?" Casey asked with a mischievous smile.

"We should at least bring him in for questioning," she replied.

"You wouldn't be able to hold him unless I go too, and I have no real intention to."

"So then what do you suggest?"

Casey simply smiled as he drew a hidden dagger. After putting a small cut on the warrior's back, Casey pushed the red marble he was holding into the wound. After a moment the warrior suddenly start to writhe in pain.

"Use this time to get him out of the city and let it run its course. That one should last until morning," Casey said as he walked away.

"And where are you going?" Amber asked as he reached the edge of the rooftop they were on.

"I think the better question would be why is he even here?" one of the officers said before Casey could answer.

"I came to return what I took earlier today," Casey said laughing to himself. "As for where I'm going, I'm going home."

With that Casey jumped off the roof of the building. When the Amber and the others reached the edge to look for him, they couldn't see any sign of him or what direction he could've headed off in. Amber just shook her head and turned to head home.

"What should we do about him," an officer asked indicating the shadow warrior that Casey defeated.

"Just do what he said to do with him," Amber replied. "I'm going back to bed."

As Amber got back on her air bike, she couldn't help wondering just who Casey really was. Even after talking with him, she realized she didn't know much about him. Pushing him from her mind, she headed home as a few of the officers that had chased the shadow warrior down loaded him onto their bikes and headed towards the city limits.


	5. Method to the Mischief

6 Nations

Ch 5

As the leaders of the other nations entered the room, the Lord of Fire stood to greet them. After everyone greeted each other and pleasantries went around, everyone took their seats, except for the leaders' guards. With everyone seated, the 6 leaders began their meeting, which consisted mostly of trade arrangements and discussing anything that pertains to maintaining the balance of the world. As the leaders were discussing their topics, Amber was letting her mind wander and it eventually ended up back on Casey and everything he had told her only a few nights earlier.

As Casey arrived at the wind capital, the guards stepped forward to confront him.

"Who are you and why are you here?" one of them asked.

"I just wish to speak with the Wind Lord," Casey replied calmly.

"You look familiar," the other guard commented.

"You do look familiar," the first guard said after taking a good luck at Casey.

The first guard suddenly took a fighting stance.

"He's the one who was in the crystal chamber the other day!"

The other guard took a fighting stance as well. Casey just held his hands up and took a couple steps back.

"I'm not here to fight or cause trouble this time, I promise," Casey said.

"Then why are you here?" asked the first guard.

"I told you; I just want speak with the Wind Lord, that's all."

"And just what do you want to talk to him about?" the second guard asked.

"You'll find out after I speak with him, assuming he tells you about it."

"Well you have to wait until he returns, he's meeting the other leaders in the Nation of Fire right now," the first guard explained, relaxing.

"That's fine. I'm in no hurry. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"All we know is that he'll be back sometime later today. We don't know when exactly," the second guard said. "He might not return until late tonight. It all depends on how long the meeting lasts."

Casey thought it over for a moment trying to decide what to do. After a few moments an idea came to mind.

"Can you set up a call to the nation leaders?" he asked. "What I have to tell him actually concerns all of them so it would probably be better this way. Not to mention the fact that I'll only have to explain this once this way."

The guards looked at each other for a moment. Neither of them thought it would was wise to interrupt the leaders' meeting.

"I don't know," the first guard said. "We're not to interrupt the meeting unless it something serious or rather important."

"You can always just blame me if you get into trouble over this," Casey replied.

"Still, I'm not sure about this," the second guard said.

"If the meeting hasn't adjourned yet, the Shadow Lord might convince them to hear what I have to say since he knows me."

"And we can blame you if we get into trouble with Wind Lord over this?" the second guard said getting a look of surprise from his partner.

"I don't see why not since I'm kind of pressing this."

"Come with us then and we'll see what we can do."

The guards led Casey into the building and to their main communication room. When they entered, everyone turned to watch. Some of them being warriors, and even members of the Storm Riders, jumped up ready to fight.

"Its ok, he's with us," one of the guards said.

"But isn't he the one that broke into the crystal chamber a couple days ago?" one of them asked.

"He is, but he just wants to speak with the Wind Lord," the other guard said.

"Why does he want to speak with the Wind Lord?" another asked.

"You'll find out if you set up a call to the nation leaders for me," Casey replied.

Even though everyone eyed him suspiciously, they began to call the Fire Lord's house.

One of the Fire Lord's servants entered the meeting room a bit nervously.

"Yes, is something wrong?" Fire Lord Michael asked when he entered.

"There's a Shadow warrior named Casey calling asking to speak with all of you," he answered.

"Is there something going on?" Shadow Lord Keith asked.

"He hasn't said. All he said is that he wants to speak with all of you."

"Well, what do you think?" Wind Lord Antwan asked Shadow Lord Keith.

The Shadow Lord closed his eyes as he thought about it.

"Let's hear what he has to say," he said after a moment. "He may be mischievous at times, but he means well."

"Very well then, transfer the call through," Michael told his servant.

With a bow, the servant left the room and went to transfer the call into the meeting room. The nation leaders didn't have to wait long before the video screen came on and showed Casey standing there with two of the guards behind him. Seeing that he was connected to the leaders, Casey gave a short bow to them.

"Thank you for taking time during your meeting to hear me," Casey said.

"What is this about?" the Earth Lord, Jeff asked.

"Well, it's about this," Casey said as he reached into the bag he was carrying.

Casey withdrew something wrapped a light blue/green cloth. When he pulled back the cloth, it revealed an orb that was glowing like the wind crystal.

"Isn't that the object you had when you were in the crystal chamber the other day?" Antwan asked.

"Yes it is. This orb has a special function. This one, as well as the others that I've made, will mimic the strongest energy source within its range."

"What are you saying?" the Lady of Water, Allison asked him.

"What I'm saying is that this and the other orbs can mimic the strength of each of the crystals."

"That's how you were able to match my strength in wind control!" Amber burst out. She immediately regretted her outburst when the leaders each looked at her.

"That would explain it," the Wind Lord said dismissing it.

"I'm curious as to what made you consider making them?" Michael asked.

"Well I initially made them out boredom and my own curiosity. While I was showing them to a friend of mine, I noticed that when he got within its range that it overrode the energy that was currently within with his. After a bit of experimenting, I found that it does that with whatever the strongest source is," Casey explained. "Finding that out made me wonder if it would work with the crystals. So I tried it with the Shadow crystal one day and found it was an exactly copy except for the fact that the energy depletes as you use it."

"And this led you to making five others, one for each of the other crystals," the Lady of Light, Veronica, said, speaking up for the first time.

"That's right."

"May I ask why you chose to focus on the crystals?" asked Allison.

"When I realized that the orbs could imitate the crystals, I figured they could used as an alternative or a backup should there be a need. They will only last a few days at the longest with continuous use until they are completely depleted but that should be enough."

"Sound reasoning if you ask me," Jeff said.

"Thank you. The reason I'm telling you this is so that I can leave these with you along with the crystals. That way if they need to be replenished they're already close to the crystals."

"I'm assuming you already have some kind of security system for them for when you aren't carrying them with you?" Michael asked him.

"Of course I do. Also, this cloth that the orb was wrapped in is designed to keep its energy contained. That way it doesn't influence the others or being overwritten with a different source if it's been depleted too much," Casey replied. "I'm also working on a belt that will hold each of them but will contain them like the cloths."

"Then I see no reason for you not to keep them," Michael said. "What do the rest of you think?"

"I have to agree with Fire Lord Michael," Veronica said.

The others all nodded in agreement.

"In that case, with your permission, I would like to take each orb to recharge them with the crystals," Casey said. "Then when I return home, I can finish the belt I'm working on and design a new security system for it with the orbs already in the belt."

"Very well then, you have permission from me," Antwan said.

One by one the others gave their permission to let Casey go to each nation and recharge the orbs with the crystals.

After thanking the leaders and wrapping the orb back up, Casey bowed and the call was ended.

"So now that that's been taken care of shall we continue?" Keith said.

As the leaders got back to their meeting, Casey started with the wind crystal then started his travels to recharge each of the other orbs with their respective crystals.


	6. Rematch

6 Nations

Ch 6

Amber walked into her apartment with her mind somewhere else. As she was taking her jacket off, she stopped. She stood there just looking around the room, something not sitting right with her. During her search, she noticed that the shadows in one particular corner seemed a bit darker than they should have considering it was still early in the afternoon.

"Show yourself," she said after a few minutes.

As she watched, the shadows lightened revealing Casey sitting in a cross legged position as if he was meditating. When the shadows were as they should be, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" Amber asked as she took her jacket off.

"Do I really need a reason?" Casey replied.

"Considering you're in my apartment, yes you do."

"Well, I was wondering if you could really fight like you were saying you could the other night."

"Is that so?" Amber asked crossing her arms. "And why should I believe you?"

"Well if you don't think you can actually win," Casey started.

"I know I can, especially since you won't have that orb of yours to help you," Amber said heatedly.

"Prove it then," Casey said with a sly smile.

"Fine, follow me."

With that Amber turned and walked out of her apartment and Casey got up and followed. Amber lead the way to a gym that was part of the apartment she lived. They went to one of the empty rooms that had a padded floor that was large enough for them to spar in. After making sure there were enough pads on the floor and walls, they took their positions on opposite ends of the room.

"Now let's see if you're as good as you say you are," Casey said as he took his stance.

"Just don't be mad when I win," Amber replied taking hers.

"You actually have to win first."

Amber rushed in to attack in response. When she reached him and attacked, she seemed to pass right through him. Turning around, she noticed that it was just an image of him and it was already fading away. Before the image had completely vanished, Casey attacked from behind. Amber turned just in time to block his attack but he vanished again just as quickly. Amber was unsure if he was just moving that quickly or if this was some technique he knew. She turned around in time to block another attack and countered with a quick kick before he could move again. Casey dodged the kick and caught her leg. With a smirk, he threw her across the room. Amber recovered mid air and rushed back in as soon as she landed.

Instead of vanishing again, Casey waited for next attack. Even though Casey stood his ground and simply defended, Amber knew that he could vanish again at any moment. Their fight was starting to go like it did the last time they fought, with Casey giving her little time to respond to his attacks. As their fight went on, Amber found she was starting to keep up with Casey's speed. Soon they were going back and forth. First one would have the upper hand and be on the attack, and then the other would go on the attack.

After a few minutes, they both jumped back, ready for the other to attack again. While they were watching each other, Amber was considering using wind attacks. The only reason she hesitated was because she really didn't know if Casey had the orb with him. For a while, neither of them moved. While they were standing there, Casey placed shadows around his arms and legs. Amber readied herself for his next attack. She didn't have to wait long. Casey rushed in low to attack. When Casey reached her, Amber went to jump over him, but Casey seemed to anticipate this and jumped at the same time. Since she wasn't expecting it, Amber wasn't able to defend against Casey's kick. It took her a few seconds to get up.

"I guess I should tell you that when we have shadows wrapped around our arms and legs like this, Shadow warriors can actually hit harder," Casey explained to her.

"And why is that?" Amber asked as she got up.

"Simple really, since we draw our strength from the shadows, using them when we fight increases our strength and allows us to deal more damage."

"And let me guess, doing it at night further increases your strength?"

"Basically, with the added part of our limbs vanishing from sight as well, like I'm sure you noticed when I fought that other Shadow warrior."

"Yeah, I noticed. I was wondering about that."

Casey took his stance again while Amber recovered then took hers. While in her stance, Amber began swirling wind currents around her arms and legs. Seeing this, Casey smiled getting an idea as to how the fight was going to progress from here. Amber charged first, moving faster than before. Casey wasn't surprised by her increased speed. However, despite the fact that Amber was moving twice as fast as before, Casey had little difficulty keeping up. Their fight started going back and forth, neither willing to give ground. They kept up their pace for quite a while, even speeding up at times. After some time passed, they jumped back. While Amber was starting to breath heavier from their fight, Casey didn't seem to be winded at all.

"You must quite of bit of energy left to still be breathing so easily right now," Amber panted.

"You could say that," Casey replied with a smirk.

"You're still holding back aren't you?"

"Well this is just a sparring match. No sense really trying to kill each other."

"You have a point," Amber admitted. "What do you say we call it a day then?"

"Sure, but I thought you wanted to prove that you could beat me in a fight?"

"Considering you're not even winded right now despite the way we were fighting, I think it's a safe bet that you actually would've won."

"So you're admitting that I would've won the other day?"

"Yes I am. Believe me; I know when I've been bested. One of the members of my unit thought you might've been holding back that day."

"Is that so?" Casey asked as they got ready to leave.

"Yeah, he thought you weren't taking everything seriously," she answered.

"Well, he isn't entirely wrong. I was just having fun with it."

"Well considering where your level of strength is, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"I am a Shadow Knight, as you found out the other day."

While they were talking, they reached Amber's apartment. Even though she seemed a bit hesitant about the idea, she invited Casey in for a bit. They spent most of the time just getting to know each other. Each told the other their story of how they entered the ranks of their respective elite warriors. Casey told her about some of the random gadgets he's created.

"So what's the real reason you decided to stop by?" Amber asked suddenly.

"Well two things really. I was wondering if you've deciphered the disk I left you, and the other reason is that I really just felt like stopping by."

"You just felt like stopping by?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds strange but it's true."

"Is there anything that I should be worried about?"

"From me, no and that assassin's been taken care of, so there shouldn't be any reason to."

"Speaking of, why did you save me that night?"

"I told you, I find you interesting. That alone was reason enough for me."

"So you have no other reason than that?"

"Do I really need one?"

"I guess not."

For a while they were both silent. While they were silent, Casey started staring out the window, while Amber was watching him. Despite what he revealed about himself, she felt he was still holding something back.

"There's something you're not telling me," she said suddenly.

"Of course there isn't," Casey replied. "You didn't expect me to tell you everything so easily did you?"

"I guess not," Amber said, shaking her head. "But what's with all the secrecy with everything?"

"The people of the Shadow Lands have always been that way," Casey answered. "I think it has to do with our history but who really knows."

"Well from what I remember being taught, that sounds about right."

Their talk continued on until well past nightfall.

"Wow, I can't believe it's that late," Amber said when she saw the time. "I guess I should head to bed."

"I guess I should head home then," Casey said with a yawn.

"You're actually tired?" Amber asked somewhat surprised.

"Remember, I said we have to sleep once every few days. We can push ourselves to go without sleep for longer but it can start to wear on us like everyone else."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you don't cause any trouble," Amber said after a moment's thought.

"Are you sure I won't be imposing or that I'm not threat?"

"Like I said, as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Well thank you for the hospitality."

After saying good night to each other, Amber went to her room to get ready to bed while Casey made himself comfortable her couch.


End file.
